Banjo

OK, so yesterday, I finished replumbing the return coolant line, from the back of the head, to join the exist coolant from the front of the head, mixing directly under the thermostat, in the lower thermostat housing. You can see the mods in the following pics. So prior to even fitting the Echo aluminium radiator & integral electric fan, I had consistently obtained differential coolant temperatures between the front & rear heat exit water points of 6.2 - 6.5 deg C. I was hopeful that replumbing the rear coolant flow to under the thermostat, would get these two temperatures, even closer together. Well, to my surprise, the complete reverse resulted, with a differential of almost double that at 10.7 deg C. Hmmm ! So back to the drawing board. Would love to be able, to have a look inside the block & head water jackets, & see where the water flows actually travel. As I can't do that, then the only thing is to change things, & see how it affects the graphed results. I might "throttle" the flow in the rear head return line, & see what affect that has. Maybe it requires a separate thermostat for each head exit coolant point. However, that getting away from the KISS principle. Cheers Banjo

Hi Scott, Welcome aboard ! it sounds like the wire you replaced from the battery, was probably the "fusible link". If it was thicker, you would probably have described it as a cable. Not sure whether a 34 year old Starlet had any form of reverse polarity protection, built in, on things like the EFI controls. Generally, electronics does not take kindly to have reverse polarity applied. You need to go through everything electrical in the car, with a check list, of what still works, & what does not. That may provide some additional clues. Horn, lights, gauges, fans, etc. My guess is that it will electronics failure, most likely. As the main electronic device is the ECU, & it is the engine that will not run, then that is probably the culprit. Remember, the EFI Starlets had conventional distributor ignition, so that will be why you obtain a spark. The ECU, to my knowledge, has no control at all over the ignition system. The only quick & simple way to know whether the ECU, is your issue, is to substitute with a known working one. P.S. If wires going to the injectors are hot, then either the injector coil has failed or the driver that fires the injectors have failed & are permanently on. Cheers Banjo

Agreed, the more you find out, the more questions it raises. With a couple of heads working on this, I'm sure we will be able the nut it out. A thermostat certainly is a "damped device", in terms of it's opening & closing reaction time, to changes in coolant temperature. Like you surmise . . . if you drop a fully closed thermostat at room temperature into a pot of boiling water, it does take in excess of 10 seconds to fully open. However, The whole coolant system has a response time also, which is controlled by the thermal mass of the block & head, & the flow rates provided by the water pump, along with the efficiency of the radiator itself, in terms of removing heat from the coolant. I suggest, the coolant response time is much greater than 10 seconds, as the block in particular, acts like a great big heat sink. I suspect, I will see some changes, once I have rerouted the rear head return line. At present, I am running the data logger at 1 reading per 8 seconds. I will run it in a "fast read mode", at 25 readings per second (40msec), & we should see a picture of the upper & lower hose temperatures, with a greater resolution. If the ripple effect is still there, I do have the opportunity, of lowering the Echo radiator efficiency slightly, by blocking air movement throughput, with a 100 mm strip of cadrboard, across the front lower section of the radiator core. Let you know what this turns up. Please keep your ideas coming. P.S. Just did a test on the kitchen stove with a new thermostat, suspended in a pot of boiling water. Soaked it in boiling water, until the valve was fully opened. Took it out, and watched it close. As soon as it was fully closed, I dropped it back into still "boiling water, (which was probably about 95+ deg C(, and started stop watch. It was fully open in 21 sec. Reset stop watch, & I then removed it, to room temperature (30 deg C), and started stop watch again. It was fully closed after 30 seconds. Therefore, the differential temperature that was applied to the thermostat, on "dunking" it in "boiling water", was about 15 deg C. (97 - 82 deg C) The differential temperature that was applied to the thermostat, after taking it out of the "boiling water", was about 65 deg C. (95 - 30 deg C) In real life where the differential temperatures would be around 10 deg C (90 - 80 deg C) the response time would be much slower than those measured above. Cheers Banjo

Hi Keith, Yes, there are still a couple of unanswered questions, which I still need to look into. That's why I have done the mod. in stages, to see exactly what effect, each change has made. At the moment, the return line from the rear of the head, uses the heater return pipe along the side of the head, behind the dizzy. This line does not return coolant from the rear of the head to the top of the radiator, but directly to the inlet of the water pump. This makes sense for a heater return line, but not for the rear head coolant return, which should be returned below the thermostat. I may even get around to doing this mod today, as I have another "lower" thermostat housing with a large spout on the LHS, that can be easily plumbed with the rear head coolant return line. I'll then have to run a separate, heater return line to the water pump inlet. I'll then see what difference that makes. The sudden fall in lower radiator hose temperature after the engine is switched off, is interesting. It actually tumbles, very quickly, once the engine stops. It is like once flow stops, the hot & cooler water separate quickly. Hot water moving up, & cooler water moving down. I think it is called segregation. As to why the variation in lower radiator hose temperature is so erratic, by comparision to the top hose temperature, is still a bit of a mystery. I have a theory, which I will look into. Although I have labelled the temp sensor as "top hose", it is actually not in the top hose, but fitted to the lower thermostat housing, in a existing spare 16 x 1.5M threaded hole. The sensor being mounted in the metal housing, dampens the response of the sensor, as it effectively has more mass. However, the lower radiator sensor, is mounted directly into the lower hose, using one of those "Red Devil" type adaptors, you referred to. The adaptor is made of aluminium, and has little mass. It therefore reacts more quickly to changes in temperature, & therefore has a greater "swing range". These adaptors were, I believe, designed for racing applications, so that faster response times of water temperature could be achieved. The graph below is a small portion of the graph above, between 9:40pm & 9:50pm on the 28th March. The graph just displays only the top/rear head & bottom radiator hose temperatures. You can see that head front (top hose) & rear head temperatures mimic each other, with a differential of about 4-5 deg C. The "top hose" temperature is flatter than the rear head coolant temperature. This is because the rear head coolant temperature sensor is not in the head itself, but mounted in a "Red Devil" type hose mounting in the return coolant rubber hose, directly behind the head. Again, like the bottom radiator hose, the response time for temperature changes is quicker, & this is reflected in the graph above. So where the front head & rear head coolant temperatures mimic each other, the lower radiator hose coolant temperature is a complete reversal. ie: when the top hose temperature goes up, the lower hose temperature goes down. My theory is; that the ripple effect in the graph of the top hose temperature is actually the thermostat action, constantly opening & closing off slowly, to maintain a consistent temperature. If that is the case, then the lower hose temperature reverse swing makes sense. Top hose temp increases; thermostat opens slightly more; increased water flow; radiator has greater cooling effect on more water, & return coolant temperature to the inlet of the water pump drops. The frequency of the "ripple" effect observed in the top & rear head coolant temperatures, appears to be fairly constant. My guess is that this is a result of slight mismatch between the dampened response time of the thermostat, & the transport lag of water movement around the engine. It takes a finite time, for the a specific sample of coolant to physically move from the outlet at the bottom of the radiator, until it exists the head into the lower thermostat housing, where the thermostat, can measure & react accordingly. So until, some other piece of data, jumps out at me, & dispels my current theory, that's what I am currently thinking. More to come, no doubt ! Cheers Banjo

Went for an hours run last night, to pick up my daughter from Grandma's house. (No my daughters name is not Goldilocks) It was a cooler night, around 22 deg C, so I was interested to see whether this very efficient Echo radiator, could still maintain a required high coolant temperature. Here is the graph of all logged parameters & their statistics. The fan switched on just once, when we arrived at Grandma's house & stayed there a few minutes, before leaving. The graph below is the same as above, but with only the top sensor displayed. Although the night was cool, you can clearly see that it only took 8 minutes for the coolant temp to reach 80 deg C. After that, the new Hi Flow thermostat functioned perfectly, keeping the coolant temperature between 80 & 90 deg C. The "top hose" temperature sensor is actually fitted to the thermostat housing, just under the thermostat itself, so is very close physically to the thermostat expansion chamber. I was going to fit the thermoswitch (TFS106) there also, in a spare threaded hole, but I accidentally ordered a 14 x 1.5M threaded thermoswitch, instead of a 16 x 1.5M one (TFS183), so just drilled & tapped the thermostat housing cover/spout, which is why it is sticking up vertical, in the earlier pics. It doesn't really matter, that it is beyond the thermostat valve, as by the time the coolant reaches either of the thermoswitches switching points (90 & 95 deg C), the thermostat is already fully open at around 87 deg C, with full flow. I was thinking of doing away with the thermoswitch altogether, & varying the fan speed between 10-20% at 90 deg C, up to full speed at 95 deg C. However, as the fan is on for such short periods, that is probably "gilding the lily" a bit, & I should just adhere to the KISS principle. Cheers Banjo

I'd forgotten you did the "battery move" years ago. Just reread your post again. Thanks for the link. Might just do that, as like you, I'm all for keeping the centre of gravity of everything, as low as possible. Like the idea of the short earth cable directly to the block. Cheers Banjo

Hi Keith, Looks can be disceiving ! If the battery was placed in an east / west configuration, it would only be about 50mm lower, than the standard position on the opposite side. However, in a north / south position, down on the chassis rail, it certainly would lower the battery closer to the centre of gravity of the car itself. The only issue I foresee, is that it is on the opposite side of the engine to the starter motor & alternator, which would require new longer heavy duty cables rerouted. Cheers Banjo

Hi Graeme, Haven't really added it up, as wiring, relays, connectors, fuses & switches, nuts & bolts, are things I usually have lying around the shed. Radiator & fan complete with top & bottom hoses $ 35.00 on Gumtree. (bargain) Radiator mounts. Used grommets from Clark Rubber initially, but managed to pick up the genuine Echo radiator rubber mounts from Amayama in Japan, for just under $ 40.00. Like half the price Toyota Australia were asking. Thermoswitch TSF-106 $ $ 46.00 on ebay. Hi Flow Thermostat $ 27.00 on ebay or SCA. 30A relay. $ 5.00 on ebay 3 Way Switch $ 4.95 at Jaycar. That's about $ 118.00, according to my calculator. Final price really depends on how much you have to pay for the radiator & fan from a wreckers or elsewhere. Cheers Banjo

Here is the wiring diagram, if anyone wants to wire up a thermo-fan & a thermo-switch to their Rolla. I know a thermo-switch is quite capable of switching the radiator fan motor directly, but I like to use a 30A auto relay, so that the thermo-switch contacts don't arc, with the inductive switching current of the fan motor. The 3 position switch is not really necessary, & could be dispensed with. I put it in there, for three reasons. 1. So as I experiment with the coolant system whilst I drive, I can simply turn the fan on of off, allowing me to force the coolant temperature up or down. 2. Bypassing the thermo-switch allows you to start the fan early, if you know you are going to be putting a heavy load on the Rolla engine, like doing a hard run up to the Toowoomba or Cunninghams gap hills. 3. If you ever have to do a water crossing, it's nice to have the option to turn the fan OFF completely. The last thing you want, is the fan acting like a boat propellor, & covering your engine bay in water. Cheers Banjo

Hi Dave, Yep ! The same thought came to me. Lots of room in there now. Altezzaclub said it was a pity about the overflow bottle, incorporated into the Echo radiator fan, when I first proposed it. I had considered cutting it out, but in the end, decided to use it instead of the very large KE30 Corolla one. As you can see, there is lots of room down behind the RHS headlight, to fit all sorts of goodies. Cheers Banjo

I’ve finally finished the thermo-fan conversion, where I used a Toyota Echo aluminium radiator & fan assembly. I wired it up with a relay, & a Tridon TSF106 thermo-Switch with a 90 Off / 95 On, switching points. The results have been amazing. It has changed the KE30 driving experience dramatically. As others have noted, the first thing you notice is how quiet the car is. I had no idea, the old plastic fan there continually thrashing at the air, created so much noise. I also fitted a Hi Flow Tridon thermostat, P/N TT2040-180, which according to the specs, allows about 30% more flow, when fully open. It controls over the range of 82 – 87 deg C. The modification was dead easy, & it was if the Echo radiator was made for the KE30. The following pics give a good indication of how easy it was. Believe it or not, I only drilled one hole in the body for the threaded rod for the radiator hold-down clamp. If anyone wants to do this mod to their Rolla, I’m only too happy to offer specific assistance, or more detailed pics of the mods. Even the “plumbing was relatively easy. I was able to use another KE30 lower radiator hose, & the existing upper Echo radiator hose, to connect to the radiator to the KE30. Even the tube to take the radiator water to the water pump, was easily fashioned from a discarded S.S. vacuum cleaner tube/handle. The Echo radiator fan motor draws about 7-8 amperes, & should be fused separately, directly from the battery. The control relay should also be fused separately, & not supplied by the ignition switch, so that the fan can run on, after the engine has been switched off. I also added a 3 position (ON-OFF-ON) switch, so control of the thermostatic control of the fan could be overridden, either ON, or OFF. An LED indicator next to the switch, indicates when the fan is on. I also sent this signal to the data logger, measuring & recording various temperatures, to indicate when the fan is on. The most amazing & surprisingly advantage of the mod, was the extra power that the engine displayed. I had no idea, how much power, the engine driven fan, continually drags from the motor. The Echo aluminium radiator, is so much more efficient in removing heat from the coolant, than the original KE30 unit. Altezzaclub, has continually said that his thermo-fan, does come on much at all. Mine did not come on at all, whilst driving. Admittedly the temperature here are around 30 deg C at the moment, so I expect, that may change at higher ambient temperatures, and more city stop/start driving. The graphs indicate that during an hour of driving, the fan only came on twice for a total of 90 seconds. The first fan operation, was where I stopped to let my daughter out of the car, at the bus station, for a couple of minutes, when I did not turn off the engine. It ran for 30 seconds, then switched off, as soon as the car started moving. The second fan operation, was when I got home, & parked the car. I got out, locked the car, & walked away, only to hear the fan start up, about 1 minute after the car stopped. I hung around, to see how long it over ran. In 60 seconds it shut down. I will continue to monitor its performance & make some small tweeks. I still have to replumb the rear head return line to the top of the radiator, under the thermostat, instead of the water pump inlet. Although rear & front of head coolant temps are within about 3 deg C of each other, I think, this can be made even closer, by fitting a head gasket with no “block to head”, coolant holes blocked, & by decreasing the flow out through the front of the head, which will increase flow to the rear. I’ll take my KE30 for a good long country run in the next few weeks, & it will be interesting, to see what difference it makes to fuel consumption, as well the above mentioned benefits. P.S. I was a bit concerned that anyone doing this mod, might also have to upgrade their alternator, if it was the original Rolla 35-40A one. I wasn’t personally worried, as I upgraded to an 85A alternator a couple of years ago, which is also a fantastic mod with benefits. However, as the radiatior electric fan rarely comes on, so this really isn’t an issue. I also had on my list, to design & fit a fan run on, cut out timer, so that the fan cannot accidentally run continually, & flatten the battery. I probably still will, but it is really not going to be an operational issue. Cheers Banjo

I was just about to answer your query, with exactly what Pete has stated. Rubbers everywhere in the car get hard and brittle when cars get to be 40 years olde ! Go and get 2-3 metres of new carby vacuum hose, & replace the lot, bit by bit. Take an old one off. Cut a new one to length & then replace. Do this systematically. The fuel pump is between the carby & fuel filter & sucks, not pressurises. The fuel tank should not be pressurised unless they is a problem with the pressure relief valve for the tank. Drive car; pull up. Quickly check if filter is leaking. Remove fuel cap quickly & see it leak stops, or reduces. A close visual of where the fuel filter is leaking should reveal what the problem is. Lots of pics of the problem areas will assist. Cheers Banjo

I listened to a podcast today, whilst driving my Rolla, to drop off my daughter for uni, that had me asking the question of myself, “why am I so attracted to olde Rollas ?”. This question rolled around in my head for an hour or so, & I eventually, came up with the simple & most singular answer . . . . they are so reliable. The podcast also had me thinking about the philosophy of the people at Toyota, in the early days, when they started their design of a small car for the masses. It is not a co-incidence, that the name of their early models was the, “Publica”. Like many of us, here in Australia, if you are over 50 years old, your first introductions to “cars”, was either an FJ Holden, or an English car of some descript. I was no different. Our first family car was a Morris, & mine, & my two brothers’ first cars were either Hillmans or Morris/Austins. What I remember about those cars were, was that we were always working on them. They always seemed to break down. They were not reliable. I’m not talking about nuisance things. I remember my Dad’s big Morris Six, breaking a front stub axle once, luckily as he backed out of the drive; & my brother’s little Morris Minor once did the same thing. Being an “engineer” albeit in another discipline, I was attracted to things that were complicated & mysterious. Yes, I was one of those kids that pulled a wind-up alarm clock, completely to pieces, to see how it worked. I migrated to a “sophisticated” auto in my early 20s, & bought a Fiat 125 sports sedan. At the time, they used to advertise the Fiat, as “Have an Affair with a Fiat”. Well, the unreliability theme continued, & it wasn’t too long, before my “love affair” turned into a divorce. I had an 8 year tenure, working overseas in a developing country, & was completely over whelmed, witnessing Toyota vehicles punished & “ill-treated” & yet still continuing to function. I had a company vehicle (Toyota), but needed a second car for my wife. Second hand cars were hard to come by, but I picked up a KE20, that had rolled once, with a poor roof repair job, but that car was just so reliable, I was in awe. That experience, has changed the way, I think, & work, & design, forever. I am now a converted advocate of the K.I.S.S. principle. (Keep It Super Simple) And that is what is so attractive about the Rollas; they are so simple & well designed; some would say, “over designed”. So, what’s this got to do with the podcast. If you care to download it, or have a listen on-line at the following link, it will all become clear. http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/conversations-genevieve-bell/9173822 There is an interesting segment in the “conversation” about what people carry around in their cars, which is fascinating. There are some fascinating figures in there about how almost half the cost of the manufacture of the modern car, is the “electrical” system. The car has become so much, much more, than a vehicle to take us from A to B. Thirteen years ago, in 2004, we had a thread here on Rollaclub, about what we carry around in our boot. https://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/1287-what-do-you-keep-in-your-car/?tab=comments#comment-16463 So my question is . . . . What do you carry around every day in your car ? Not just in the boot. What do you carry around that is not part of the original car, when it was supplied new ? What added technologies have you added to your Rolla ? If you are busy, lazy, or like me; have so many things, it would take an hour to list, then lay them out on the drive way, & take a pic. If you are at all like me, you will listen to this podcast, & look at your car in a “different light”, thereafter. P.S. Later on today, I’ll post all my bits & pieces here. (this is going to be embarrassing !) Cheers Banjo

There are three cables for the rear brakes. One for each side & little short one behind the handbrake handle itself. Which one was missing ? Cheers Banjo

It appears no one makes aftermarket radiator mount bushes for the Toyota Echo, & you have to buy the genuine Toyota parts. I ring Bursons, & they say they have no listing. However, they did offer to go through their stock of radiator & other rubber bushings, to see if any fitted, if I brought the radiator in. I did this afternoon, but the only bushes they had that did fit, were suspension bushes, which were way to stiff. So off to Toyota Spare Parts department, only to find, the lower ones are only ex stock in Sydney, & it will take 3 days to get some up. However, the upper mounts were no go, with none in the country, with a minimum 3 weeks wait from Japan. What was worse was the price. $ 20+ each for the lower ones & $ 15+ ea, for the upper ones. That's $ 70 for 4 off small rubber bushes. I'm driving off fuming, and thinking, they are only grommets (in shape), surely I can find a grommet that suits. I was about to head to Bunnings, & then thought . . . . . "Clark Rubber". Around the corner to Clark Rubber. A whole row of little pigeon hole boxes, with every size grommet you can image. I went back out, grabbed the radiator & took it in & tried them. In 5 minutes, I had four that were perfect at total $ 9.00. I was elated, so bought two sets. You have to have a win every now & then. Cheers Banjo

Jeremy, I did notice when I was going through all the listings on the Ryco website that all references to the Z421, all related to Fiat & Alfa, & a few other European cars. Toyota never got a mention. Wonder what the difference is between Z421 & Z423 ? Cheers Banjo P.S. we will get to the bottom of this, but meantime, it looks like the Z423 is the way to go. Better try & grab a few in Perth, before you head back to Cebu.

Called into SCA this afternoon. They had no Z421 oil filters on the shelf, so I couldn't open up a box, Jeremy, & have a look down the inside, to confirm it has an anti-syphoning valve built in. However, they did have 1 off Z423 on the shelf, which is the one Ryco suggested this morning, as a replacement for the Z68, if we wanted the addition of an anti-syphoning valve. The price was only $ 5.00 ea., so I grabbed it. I checked it out in the workshop, once I got home, & it is in fact identical to the the Z68 in all dimensions. Height, O/S diameter, & thread. Even the sealing rubber ring is exactly the same diameter. So this looks like the oil filter to go for, if anyone has start up "rattling" issues, that need addressing. On top of that, the Z423 was cheaper than the standard Z68. All Ryco boxes advise on the outside of the box that the oil filter inside has an anti-drain back valve fitted, but no mention is made of the anti-syphoning valve. I asked the tech guys at SCA if they had additional reference to Ryco filters, as to which models were fitted with anti-syphoning valves. They did not, but were interested enough to ring Ryco head office in Sydney. However they had closed for the day. They will ring Ryco again tomorrow. Somewhere, there must be a listing, but I fear it is in the internals of Ryco, & we will not be able to get our hands on it. Cheers Banjo

Hi Craig, Sounds like you have it all under control. As I suggested, hook it up on the table or bench. Black wire to batt -ve & to Siren -ve Red wire to Batt - +ve Brown wire to Siren +ve Then you can play around with the inputs to see which ones you want to use or not. Having only one wire (White) for flasher lights is a bit of a bummer, if you'd rather flash LHS & RHS indicators alternatively. You can flash all amber indicators together with this system, but it requires 2 off simple auto relays to make it happen. If you need the circuit, give me a yell. Good luck ! Cheers Banjo

Well, I popped my radiator out at the weekend, between rain showers, & did a trial fit with the Echo radiator & thermofan. Wow, is the Echo aluminium radiator light without fan attached ! This might well be the easiest mod I've ever done to my Rolla, as can been seen from the following pics. It's almost like the Echo radiator was made for it. Plenty of room. The original radiator, mounts on the sides. The Echo radiator mounts top & bottom, with simple vibration isolation mounts/bushings. Will order some bushings today, & then make up a couple of simple brackets to hold them. There is even 4 off existing bolts at the lower mounting points, to secure the brackets. Height wise, you can see it is perfect, & there is ample clearance under the bonnet. There is plenty of room, down below, to fit a transfer pipe for radiator lower outlet, to Water pump inlet, which is on the opposite side. Cheers Banjo

Hi Jeremy, I looked into this by emailing Ryco Customer Support over the weekend. They were very quick in getting back to me this morning. You are quite right that the good olde Ryco Z68, does not have an anti-syphoning valve, fitted as standard.. I also suspect, like you, that lots of cheap oil filters have anti-drain valves that eventually leak, as it is only a large flap, which could distort over time, and the material the flap valve is made of, could vary from one manufacturer to another. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We have a number of members who have suffered from oil drain back, & syphoning, after the engine has been shut down, resulting in rattling startups. Most of the 3K, 4K, & 5k engines our cars are fitted with, use the Z68 oil filter. My question is this. Does the Z68 have an anti syphoning valve fitted, as standard ? If not, what other Ryco oil filter, has an anti-syphoning valve, that would be suitable for the 3K - 5K engines, as a replacement for the Z68 ? I can find no where on the Ryco site, where it lists the valves that are fitted to each model filter. Is this info readily available ? Many thanks in advance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your enquiry. The Z68 Spin-on Oil Filter is fitted with an Anti-Drain back valve but NOT an Anti-Syphon valve. Having compared the Z68 with other Spin-on Oil filters in our catalogue we can confirm that the Z423 Oil Filter has both an Anti-Drain back valve and an Anti-syphon valve. The Z423 has very similar dimensions to the Z68 as well, identical filter media and thread. Having not tested the Z423 for use on Toyota 3-5K engines we cannot recommend the fitment, thus any customer fitting this filter is at their own risk and will be not covered under the Ryco warranty. Thank You Kind Regards -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryco, have suggested the Z423, which is very similar to the Z421 you have found. I'll have a look for a Z423 this afternoon, at SCA, when I'm in town. I had a new Ryco Z418 oil filter on the shelf in the garage, for my daughter's 2004 Echo. I had a look down the outlet hole in the middle, & it doesn't have an anti-syphoning valve, as you can see the inside of the filter element clearly. However, on the 2004 Echo, the filter is mounted very very low on the motor, such that you have to lie under the car to fit it. The outlet for the filter points upwards, (not inverted), so probably doesn't really need an anti-syphoning valve. Ryco didn't answer my query regarding a listing of their oil filters, with which valves are fitted, so will follow that up with them. I couldn't find anywhere on the net, where manufacturers list what valves were fitted to which filters. As they all use a universal identification system, it is possible, I suppose, that one manufacturer could include a particular valve in a particular model, and another manufacturer may not. Needs a bit more research. Jeremy; where did you find the info about the Z421, that it has an anti-syphoning valve fitted ? I'd be interested to know. Will advise, if I hear any more from Ryco Customer Service. If I can get hold of a Z423 today, I'll fit it & try it out, as my Rolla is about ready for an oil change. Cheers Banjo

Hand brake operates on the rear wheels. Are you just missing cable or is hand brake handle also missing ? Cheers Banjo

Hi Craig, Welcome aboard ! I've seen these Chinese kits, on ebay for under $ 50.00. I presume it comes with a wiring diagram, that in in the manual. Does it look a bit like this ? Bit hard to comment or assist without the wiring/hook up diagram. If you can scan it & post it, or display a link to where it can be viewed on-line, that would be very helpful. Don't want to give you advice, sight unseen, & accidentally blow your Christmas present up. I would be inclined to hook it up on a table or bench first, with a 12Vdc supply or battery, & test it all, before installing it. Much easier, than installing it, & then trying to trouble shoot, in the car. Cheers Banjo

The way this bulletin reads, you'd believe anti-syhponing valves are pretty common. http://www.rycofilters.com.au/library/news/1181284334_document_ryco_tech_bulletin_-_may_mail_out1.pdf There was a lot of discussion along these lines, back a few years ago, on Rollaclub. https://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/71334-oil-filter/ I've always used the Ryco Z68, & never had a cold start up rattle yet. I do notice there is a squatter version Ryco, with P/N Z158, for presumably low delay start ups. Ryco recommend them for the 4K--U & 4K-J engines. I've always presumed, after reading the Ryco website, that the Z68 has anti-drain & anti syphoning valves. I must cut one open, next time I do an oil change. This is from the FRAM website, about the various valves in the lubrication system, & what each one does. Cheers Banjo

Hi Graeme, Must have a look next time I'm in SCA. Are they good quality ? There is a guy down in Sydney on ebay, at Bonnyrigg, who makes them for KE20-25 & KE30-55. They all sell for $ 39.99 = $ 15 freight, so much the same. Good fit. Good guy ! Didn't have the colour I wanted in his his stock colours. Contacted him, & told him the exact colour I'd like, & he made one up in 2-3 days, for same price. Have had it about 3 years now, & it still looks good, & has endured the sun here in Qld well. Cheers Banjo

Very, very clever ! I've just read the full article Dave, & it's a good read. What your second pic of the shroud, (as the Americans call them), depicts, is the excellent fan impellor design, with a continuous edge, eliminating the fan blade tips, which create cavitation of the air at the tips/ends. The way the continuous fan impellor edge & shroud overlap, is also very clever, & further enhances the lack of air cavitation. The actual shape of the seven blades is very efficient, almost "scooping" the air through. A bit frightening how much current the fan pulls, looking at the ratings of the relays & electrical components. Cheers Banjo